Demonstration of a cytotoxin from Campylobacter pylori.

In order to determine if Campylobacter pylori produces a cytotoxin, a study was performed using bacterial lysates from three clinical isolates of the organism. The lysates were cytotoxic for Chinese hamster ovary cells, as determined by a microtiter assay. The lysates were also lethal for mice after intraperitoneal injection. Loss of toxicity and lethality followed trypsinization, heating and acidification of cell-free lysates. It is concluded that the toxic factor(s) in Campylobacter pylori may be a protein.